Nobody_Does_It_Better_Kobo

by Lexi Blake

  “If Damon does fire you, well, I didn’t fire that crazy-ass Irishman when he did the same thing. Hell, if I fired everyone for doing stupid shit, I wouldn’t have a team.” He got serious again. “When this is done, I want to go find Bishop. Holy shit. I’m still trying to process the fact that he’s alive. I don’t care what Ezra thinks. Ezra doesn’t know Bishop. He would never turn.”

  That was one thing she could get on board with. “Yes, I think we should. I think we should head to that little town and figure out what the hell’s going on.”

  “I’ve heard they have a nudist resort,” Tag said. “And a shit ton of ex-law enforcement. Ezra makes it sound like it could be some secret base for bad guys, but I can’t see it. Bishop was the single best operative I’ve ever worked with. Ten agrees with me, so when you get back, we’re hunting his ass down and getting some answers.”

  “Agreed.” But she did have something else to do. “I might need a few days before we head to Colorado.”

  “In order to assassinate Hector Morales, who probably ran a ring that trafficked children throughout the US? Yeah, I thought you would say that. I suspect you’ll be hunting down a blackmailer, too.”

  Her stomach tightened because he might be the only person in the world who could stop her. “I need this, Tag.”

  “I’m not going to stop you,” he replied, his voice sure. “Just won’t let you go alone. Take Boomer and do it from afar. I know you would rather gut the fucker, but he’s surrounded by killers. His death will have to be justice enough. Boomer can handle it from a mile away and we can pay him in hot dogs. Forgive me. You’ll be in Mexico. Tacos. Lots of tacos.”

  She should have known he would understand. “You’re pretty cool, Ian Taggart.”

  “Yeah, that’s what all the girls say.” He glanced down as his phone buzzed. “Adam, carry our sleeping princess out. We gotta go. Car’s here.”

  Alex yawned as he stepped out. “That bench you got is pretty comfy. Eve always complains about ours.”

  “Well, Eve is usually in another position on it,” Adam argued. “I don’t think you would find it so comfy if you had a large plug up your butt and someone was spanking you.”

  “Let’s find out,” Ian said as the door opened. “Five hundred says Alex gives up before the plug even comes out of the package.”

  “I’ll take that,” Adam replied. “I think he’s tougher than he looks.”

  “Fuck you both,” Alex said, striding out to the car.

  And they were off. She loved Josh, but she also missed the easy camaraderie of her coworkers.

  “Can we go home now?” Josh walked through the doors that led to the main part of the club.

  Remind him how nice it is to have you around.

  “Sure,” she said. “Unless you want to play for a while. I only got to come here once.”

  He stopped, his whole body stilling. “You won’t win me back.”

  She had to keep this casual. Push him physically but not emotionally. That would come because he wouldn’t be able to stop it. “Then there’s no problem with enjoying each other until we can’t anymore.”

  His face had flushed and there was no way to miss how his jeans tented. “It won’t mean anything.”

  “Will it mean an orgasm? Because I’ve had a shitty morning and I could use one. I’ll just take care of myself when we get home.” She shrugged it off like it didn’t matter even though her heart ached. “When is our plane tomorrow?”

  He was suddenly behind her, his hand on her shoulder. “You are not allowed to masturbate unless I say so. How quickly you forget. You’re under contract until the job is over. Take off your clothes and find your place in the main dungeon. We’ll see if I can spank the rules into you.”

  She was smiling as she began to strip.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Seven days later, Josh grimaced as he stared at the tux he would have to stuff himself into. He looked at himself in the ornate mirror and wished this fucking party hadn’t been black tie.

  “I find it interesting that this Tyler asshole didn’t bother to show up for work,” Kayla complained from the bathroom.

  “According to the director, he said he couldn’t leave the US right now. It’s cool. I got everything I needed out of him,” he replied.

  She looked out the door, her body wrapped in a robe. Her hair was pinned up as though she was about to get into the shower he could hear running. “I would love to have talked to the man.”

  “I’m sure you would have.” He could bet she would have been polite and pleasant and found a way to make her point. He was kind of glad Tyler Williams had decided to stay stateside. Kayla was highly suspicious of the dude. Earlier today, he’d caught her looking the man’s name up on her laptop. He suspected she wasn’t merely attempting to put him on her Christmas card list. “Did you enjoy the tour of the grounds?”

  He had to be careful what he said because almost immediately after they’d been shown to their suite of rooms in the west wing of the massive compound at the edge of the jungle, Riley had run some kind of device over the walls and shaken his head at Kayla.

  Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Soon his life would be bug free and he was fucking keeping it that way. He’d cleared his schedule, pulling out of two films and pushing back another. He needed time and space to sit and think.

  He needed to figure out how to be without her.

  A solid week they’d spent on set. He’d worked fourteen-hour days and somehow she’d still managed to put her stamp on each and every one. The first day on set, she’d brought pastries in for the crew, making them all laugh and fall madly in love with her. Even the director, who pretty much hated everyone, had told Josh that one was a “keeper.”

  The second day, he’d twisted the same damn ankle he’d hurt in the canyon and she’d sat in the small medical facility with him, bringing him coffee and taking his mind off the pain.

  Every single frame of this film would remind him of her.

  It would be better when she was physically away from him. The trouble was they were still thrown together and had to make everything look good for the people who were watching them.

  Kayla stepped out of the bathroom. “Hector was a pleasant companion. You were right. He’s an incredibly generous man and this place is spectacular.”

  Every word they said had to be measured. First because the Agency had been listening in, and now because Hector Morales apparently liked to spy on his guests, but then given that the man was head of a major drug cartel, it was likely an occupational necessity.

  “He has his own zoo,” she was saying. “It’s pretty tricked out. This place is huge.”

  “Yeah, I suspect we would need a map to get around,” he replied. He prayed her Agency contact had gotten her one.

  She winked his way. “Nah, I’m only really interested in the ballroom. I’m playing princess tonight. Want to be Prince Charming? Because you worked out earlier and my Prince Charming isn’t stinky.”

  He hadn’t, but the shower was the only place they could talk. And do other things. God, he’d had that woman every way he could think of and his cock surged the minute he realized he could have her one more time. For the last three days he’d promised himself every time was the last and every time she smiled his way, his dick overrode all of his good intentions.

  This might be the last time. The very last time.

  The party was tonight and they’d decided it was the perfect time for her to slip away and download Morales’s computer. There would be a hundred people milling about the mansion, many wanting to meet Hector’s special guest—Josh. Security would be tight, but Kayla assured him she could deal with them.

  He pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it away. If she got what she needed tonight, Riley Blade would take the intel and hand it off to someone called Mr. Green and they would be done. They would wake up tomorrow, have breakfast with the drug kingpin, and head back into the city. He would go back to work and Kayla was scheduled f
or a flight to London tomorrow night.

  And they would never see each other again.

  He shoved out of his jeans and those joined the T-shirt along with his boxers. “I wouldn’t want your Prince Charming to be anything less than perfect. Is this your first ball?”

  He would go back to his life. Or maybe not. He would take some time and decide what he wanted. He could apply for hermitship. Or maybe become a hobo.

  God, she was in his head. He couldn’t even brood properly anymore. No. Every time he started to go seriously dark she was there making fun of him, teasing him out of his dark places.

  Why had she been a lie?

  He entered the bathroom naked, his cock fully erect. “Take off the robe.”

  It hit the ground in an instant. She was completely obedient when it came to sex, seemed to need and crave his dominance. Unfortunately, outside the bedroom, she was an utter mystery to him.

  Wouldn’t it be nice to spend the next fifty years figuring her out? Learning all her secrets. She hadn’t once spoken of her sister. Did she miss Jiang Kun? Did she sometimes miss being Jiang Kun? All questions he’d wanted to ask and stubbornly had kept silent about because he’d told himself none of it mattered.

  She stepped into the shower. Morales’s mansion was done up like a palace. Versailles in the New World as he’d called it the first time Josh had been here. The floor beneath their feet was marble, the bathroom designed like it was made for French royalty. He followed her in, his hands already on her skin. He couldn’t fucking help himself. If he hadn’t forced himself to sleep on the couch of the hotel suite they’d been sharing, he would have ended up wrapped around her, cuddling her close and fucking her every time he woke.

  He had no idea what would happen tonight. The hotel suite had been safe, Kay had assured him. Well, just audio. No video. They couldn’t be sure about these rooms so they had to assume Morales could see as well as hear.

  “Calm down, babe,” she said, her voice low. “Everything is going great. Morales is perfectly charming. He speaks highly of you and can’t wait to show you off to his guests tonight. That was all he talked about this afternoon, how proud he was to have such a big star in his home. All you have to do is perform tonight and no one is going to notice me slipping away.”

  He leaned over, breathing in her scent, the heat from the shower making his body relax for the first time today. Every second she’d been with Morales had seemed like hours, but he’d been stuck talking to some of Hector’s relatives and he couldn’t think of an excuse for her to not go with him. He traced the scar under her right clavicle with his thumb. Even her scars were pretty. He loved this one in particular because they joked about it. Little Miss Muffett.

  No spider would frighten his girl away. “I hated watching you walk off with him.”

  “I know,” she replied, letting him touch her, look at her. She would stay there until he’d looked and touched to his heart’s content. She would stand there until the water got cold and they needed to go because that was simply who she was as a lover.

  Giving. Never faltering. He traced a line down to her nipple. “Do you know where his office is?”

  “Yes, and it’s a bit tricky because it’s in an opposite wing of the house, but my handler sent me the blueprints. The good news is Hector mentioned that he would have the pool and the gardens open tonight. I’m just going to get a little lost when I need some fresh air. Riley assures me he can cut into the security feed. He’ll put it on a loop and we’ll be out of there before you know it. I’ll come back here and we can dance the night away.”

  He traced a finger around and around that pretty nipple, watching it peak for him. “And Riley will take the intel to your handler?”

  She nodded. “Yep, so even if they suspect me of something, I won’t have anything on me. Touch me. Everywhere. I don’t want this to end.”

  Then she should have thought about turning into a liar who stole his last bit of privacy. He took a step back because he was doing it again. “I’m sorry. I can’t trust you, but god, Kay, I do want this from you. I wish I could lie and hurt you like you’ve hurt me. I wish I could tell you this thing between us wasn’t the most electric I’ve ever felt, but it’s true. I’ll miss it, but I know how to survive. I learned it a long time ago. Lesson number one. Never make the same mistake twice.”

  “We could make totally new ones,” she said but with a sad smile, as though she knew what the answer would be.

  He reached around and pulled her close. “I am going to let you get on that plane. I am going to say good-bye to you. I’m going to do it to save me, and maybe that makes me a coward, but I can’t do this with you. It couldn’t work now. Honestly, it wouldn’t have worked even before. I would always be waiting for the other shoe to fall.”

  Her head came up, tears shining in her eyes. “I’m going to miss you until the day I die, Joshua Hunt. Maybe longer. Someday you’re going to love a woman and she will be the luckiest woman on earth, and I need you to understand that I genuinely want that for you.”

  He shook his head. She didn’t understand the full extent of his agony. “That won’t happen because I love you.”

  She stepped back, taking a deep inhale and obviously trying to get herself under control. “No, you don’t. If you loved me you wouldn’t be able to leave me. A smart dude taught me that. It’s okay. We don’t get to pick who we fall in love with.”

  It was perverse, but he hated the fact that she didn’t believe him. “I told you I love you. I’ve never said that to anyone.”

  “Sure you have,” she replied. “You say it at the end of every movie, babe. You’re good at it.”

  He knew she was trying to lighten the mood, but he didn’t want it lightened. He wanted to be acknowledged. “Don’t blow me off, Kayla. I said it and I meant it.”

  Her eyes were soft on him as she spoke. “But you don’t. If you loved me, that shoe you’re waiting on wouldn’t mean anything. People in love are brave. I’m not saying you aren’t. Please understand that. I think you’re one of the bravest human beings I’ve ever met.”

  “I am not.” He was fairly certain he was the worst kind of coward.

  “Sometimes bravery isn’t about slaying a dragon. Sometimes bravery is about getting out of bed every morning and going to work even when the pain is so bad you can’t stand the thought of going on. I think you’re very brave, and one day you’re going to find a woman you can’t live without. I want that for you because you deserve it, and if she’s ever a bitch to you, send her my way.”

  “You’ll take care of her, huh?”

  She nodded solemnly.

  “Like you’re planning on taking care of the woman who’s blackmailing me.”

  She was silent for a moment and then she nodded again. “And Morales. I’m going to kill him too, and then he can’t put you in a bad position ever again.”

  Crazy-ass bitch. She was a true psycho chick and she was going to get herself killed. She was going up against one of the most dangerous men in the world. “You can’t do that.”

  “I assure you, I can.” She turned and started to reach for the soap.

  Why? Why the fuck would she do that?

  He gripped her arm and turned her back toward him. She made him crazy. She confused him. She made him fucking feel alive.

  He leaned over and kissed her. Days of not kissing her had left him desperate for her mouth. He dominated her, needing to feel that moment when she softened against him, submitting to him. Her whole body seemed to lean into him, giving over, and in that moment he was a fucking king.

  In that moment, it didn’t matter what she’d said or done because she was his and he would handle it. If it was a simple mistake, they would get through it. If she was the fucking baddest of bad guys, he would tie her down and discipline her until she never lied to him again. He could chain her to his side and make sure she never stepped out of line again.

  No more assassinations. No more letting the CIA use her sweet beauty
to play their wicked games. She would be his and only his, and anyone who tried to come between them would fucking find out how badass he could be when he wanted to. She would work for him and him alone, and only when he wanted her to. She would spend the rest of her life following him around the world and making animal friends and doing weird shit that made him laugh and fucking him. She would spend the rest of her life fucking him.

  He crowded her, shoving her back against the wall and lifting her up. Her legs went around his hips while he never once let go of her mouth. That gorgeous mouth he dreamed of at night. She was the only woman he’d ever willfully kissed, the only one who’d ever felt the slow slide of his tongue. God, she was the only woman he’d ever willingly gone down on.

  Only her. For the rest of his life. If he never saw her again after tomorrow, he would go to his grave with the taste of her on his lips.

  “I do love you.” He whispered the words against her flesh.

  He flexed his hips and his cock found its home. It was like the damn thing knew exactly where to go. He thrust inside because she was already wet and ready for him. No woman in the world had ever responded the way she did, as though she’d been built specifically for him.

  Was he willing to let that go? For any fucking reason?

  “I love you, Joshua. I love you so much.” Her arms wound around his neck. She held him like she would never let him go.

  He pumped into her, his whole being focused on their connection. When he was inside her, he didn’t think about what she’d done, how they didn’t work. When he was inside her all that mattered was the here and now, and it was perfect.

  He thrust and thrust, his mouth finding hers again and taking over. His lips moved over hers, tongue delving deep inside, imitating the hard moves of his cock. He wanted to penetrate her in every way, to connect them as physically as they could possibly be connected. This was it. This was the final moment of his time with her and he wanted to make it last.

  Because he would give her up.

  Wouldn’t he?